Cardio for weight loss - what's your experience?

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weightofyourskin
weightofyourskin Posts: 173
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been having a hard time losing weight. Since mid-July I've been hitting my daily calorie goal (1550) and my macros let's say 90% of the time, doing cardio 3-4 times a week, all of that... and I've lost 5 pounds. I'm supposed to be losing 1 pound a week. I eat my exercise calories back, I don't weigh myself around my period, I drink enough water, I allow myself little "cheats" like ice cream and chips but in reasonable portions, and I don't have binge days or days when I don't track at all. I know that cardio machines tend to overestimate calories burned, so I always under-report what I actually do - 20 minutes on the elliptical gets logged as 15, for example. And perhaps most frustratingly, I haven't seen a whole lot of difference in my measurements either - maybe 2 inches off my waist and no real change anywhere else.

I got fed up with what I was doing because I wasn't seeing results, so I got the New Rules of Lifting for Women and decided to focus more on strength training. The author of NRoL doesn't have a very high opinion of cardio as an effective weight-loss exercise. I've found other articles that say the same thing (http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/ for example).

So now I'm wondering if all the cardio I've been doing is responsible for my lack of weight loss? I've also been doing some strength training but not nearly as intensely or regularly as the NRoL workouts, partly because I just didn't know what to do with the equipment, partly because some of the machines just led to injuries (like the stupid leg curl/leg extension ones). Is it better to just focus on strength training? I know that building muscle boosts your metabolism and the calories you burn when resting, but I assumed that cardio would help with weight loss because it just plain burns calories, especially combined with calorie-cutting like I've been doing.

What experience have you guys had with doing cardio - mostly/only cardio - for weight loss? What experience have you had with doing mostly/only strength training for weight loss (or rather, inches and sizes dropped)? Did you have a consistent, sustainable weight loss or did it taper off? If you alternated with strength training, which was most effective? For the MFP members who are more experienced with weight loss and exercise/gyms in general, do you have any advice? My workout plan for the next few months is cardio twice a week and the NRoL workouts three times a week (with 10-15 minutes of cardio as a warmup).
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Replies

  • MyCoachNYLA
    MyCoachNYLA Posts: 158 Member
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    It's pretty much about the food. Doubt seriously it is the training.
  • KavemanKarg
    KavemanKarg Posts: 266
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    80% of how you look is diet, the more I train, the more I am certain of this.
  • chickman07
    chickman07 Posts: 3 Member
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    Your problem is the "cheats" if you don't stay within your calories you won't lose the weight it says. I have been doing mfp for 5 months and have lost 15 lbs. I only lose the weight when I stay on track with my calories and do cardio.
  • Jacquelyn913
    Jacquelyn913 Posts: 300 Member
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    Cardio is a big part of losing weight, and so is strength training, I do a comination of both. I strength train for about a half hour then cardio for an hour. I do not believe only doing strength training is going to get you the results you want.
  • ArtificiallyBalanced
    ArtificiallyBalanced Posts: 44
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    What you eat is at least 90% of the equation. I have lost 110 pounds and it took me a year. I changed my way of eating completely (but slowly) and the only exercise I did for that year was walk.. I walked a LOT, anywhere from 3 miles to 13 miles a day! But I was extremely strict and careful as to what I ate. Now a year later I still mainly do cardio but I am now a runner, I bike and still do a lot of walking. I started weight training over the summer a few times a week (not consistently) and that got me toned and lost clothes sizes, but no drop on the scale. Make sure you are eating whole foods, as natural as possible, only good whole grain carbs, keep your protein intake high, eat TONS of veggies and fruits, and let yourself have a cheat day or meal. I have had Sundays as my cheat day for 2 years, and again- I lost 110 pounds :)
  • LisaMarieee
    LisaMarieee Posts: 176 Member
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    I lost 57lbs by only doing cardio.
  • ashesoh1234
    ashesoh1234 Posts: 132 Member
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    I have been doing WW and MFP for 22 weeks and am down 55 lbs. I do a combo of cardio and strength training and I think strength training is absolutely crucial. That said, I have noticed that I have bigger weight losses when I amp up the cardio. I would never cut out strength training, but I love cardio for the killer calorie burn.
  • christina000
    christina000 Posts: 46
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    I mainly work on Cardio, because it makes me feel good, and I love beating my personal bests. I haven't changed my diet too drastically, I just limit my junk, and in 3 1/2 months I have lost about 13lbs. So I don't see how cardio can inhibit weightloss, maybe you aren't pushing yourself hard enough.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I'm 50 yo and I've kept myself thin for most of my life doing cardio. I've sometimes only done cardio and sometimes I've mixed some weight training in with it. Cardio has never let me down. When I want to lose it takes off the pounds. When I want to stay thin it keeps them off.

    Plus, as the name suggests, it keeps my heart healthy.
  • weightofyourskin
    weightofyourskin Posts: 173
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    Your problem is the "cheats" if you don't stay within your calories you won't lose the weight it says. I have been doing mfp for 5 months and have lost 15 lbs. I only lose the weight when I stay on track with my calories and do cardio.

    By "cheat" I mean I'll have half a cup of ice cream for 150 calories. The "cheats" are not pushing me over my calorie limit. I just checked and I've gone over my calories 6 days since mid-July. I seriously doubt that's why I'm not losing weight.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    They really are both required for a healthy lifestyle. Cardio increases blood flow and helps keep the heart happy. Strength training is key to build muscle which burns fat. In terms of reducing body size, well increasing muscle will reduce fat, and muscle is more dense and by volume is smaller/fills less space so ST is "better" than cardio in that sense. In fact, there are members on this board with 6% body fat and never do cardio. I do p90x which incorporates both. And if you have problems with figuring out exercises to do, it might be advisable to pick up a program like that.
  • Queenab1
    Queenab1 Posts: 2
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    For myself i do cardio and strength training ahd have been losing about a lb and a half per week. For my cardio i do a high intensity level for 40 min max each time. ex: treadmill incline 15.0 speed 4.3, stairmaster level 8 etc. and strength as well. i would also recommend talking to a trainer too.
  • Queenab1
    Queenab1 Posts: 2
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    For myself i do cardio and strength training ahd have been losing about a lb and a half per week. For my cardio i do a high intensity level for 40 min max each time. ex: treadmill incline 15.0 speed 4.3, stairmaster level 8 etc. and strength as well. i would also recommend talking to a trainer too.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    Your problem is the "cheats" if you don't stay within your calories you won't lose the weight it says. I have been doing mfp for 5 months and have lost 15 lbs. I only lose the weight when I stay on track with my calories and do cardio.

    I wouldn't say that is definitely her problem. She said she limits them and it sounds like she works them in to her calorie count. No cheats ever is not realistic.

    OP, how much do you have to lose? How much are you aiming to lose a week? If you don't have a lot to lose, it can be very slow. You might want to try switching to a goal of losing 1/2 pound per week (if you have 20 or less pounds to lose). On the flip side, you may actually not be eating enough. Do you eat your exercise calories?
  • frugalmomsrock
    frugalmomsrock Posts: 1,123
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    I do a lot of cardio, and I do some strength (often combining the two), and I've lost quite a bit of weight and lots of inches. I've lost more inches than I have pounds, and I'm down 50 pounds.

    I regularly do anywhere from 60-120 minutes of cardio, though I've slacked off a little bit lately and usually it's between 60 and 100. I do some strength in addition to this-about 15 minutes three times a week.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,583 Member
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    By "cheat" I mean I'll have half a cup of ice cream for 150 calories. The "cheats" are not pushing me over my calorie limit. I just checked and I've gone over my calories 6 days since mid-July. I seriously doubt that's why I'm not losing weight.
    I gotta say it's food first. If you're burning calories from cardio and always coming in under, then you should be losing weight. You may be carb sensitive and have a tendency to have a lower metabolism.
    Though I'm not big on cutting things out, try dumping a couple of your cheats for a couple of weeks. If you lose, then you'll have your answer.
  • dargytaylor
    dargytaylor Posts: 840 Member
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    bump to read later
  • weightofyourskin
    weightofyourskin Posts: 173
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    OP, how much do you have to lose? How much are you aiming to lose a week? If you don't have a lot to lose, it can be very slow. You might want to try switching to a goal of losing 1/2 pound per week (if you have 20 or less pounds to lose). On the flip side, you may actually not be eating enough. Do you eat your exercise calories?

    I'd like to lose about 30 more pounds, but I'd be happy to get down to 150 (I'm at 173 now). My MFP settings were originally set to lose 1 pound a week, but I've changed that to 1/2 pound because I need to increase my calories for the extra strength training. I try to eat my exercise calories but I don't always. It's occurred to me that the problem might be that I'm not eating enough calories... but I'm nervous about eating more. Also after months of restricting my calories I just don't feel hungry anymore so I'm not sure how I could increase my calories without resorting to junk food.
  • jlfred
    jlfred Posts: 65 Member
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    Both are important, for different reasons. Cardio will burn more calories and is more of an "immediate" thing. Strength building is more of a long term thing -- the muscles you build will burn more calories while at rest (muscle burns 16 cal/hr, fat burns 2 cal/hr.) You also need both the cardio and strength building to firm and tone the body. No amount of dieting will do that for you.

    The other important thing is to change things up. If you do the same thing day in and day out, your body acclimates and you'll hit a plateau. Changing the speed/level/incline is an ok solution to this, but not great. Really, you need to completely change up what up what you're doing every so often. If you're always on the elliptical, you need to do the treadmill or bike or stair climber, or something. You can go back to the elliptical later -- but staying on the elliptical indefinitely won't produce nearly the same results in the long run.

    Over the last 2 years, I have lost 125 lbs. I was in WW for most of that time, and have worked with trainers and nutritionists. I have a large number of co-workers and friends who have been doing similar programs for about the same amount of time. The only ones that have lost significant amounts of weight are the ones who combine healthy diets with moderate to intense exercise routines. Even the ones who stick faithfully to their food plans have not done as well in the long-term, either having significantly slower weight loss and/or rebounds in weight gain. And those that don't exercise regularly tend to have far less energy (often leading to increased hunger/perceived hunger). Diet is important, absolutely. But for the majority of people it's not really going to be enough.
  • QueenHanifa
    QueenHanifa Posts: 180 Member
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    bump

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